01. Standing On The Shore 4:24
02. Walking On A Dream 3:18
03. Half Mast 3:54
04. We Are The People 4:27
05. Delta Bay 3:14
06. Country 5:04
07. The World 4:37
08. Swordfish Hotkiss Night 3:55
09. Tiger By My Side 5:48
10. Without You 5:00

The sleeve of Walking In A Dream features a delightfully airbrushed painting of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore (for they are Empire of the Sun) showing them as a cross between characters from the Star Wars franchise and a Siegfried and Roy magic show. Clearly this collaboration of two Australian music veterans--Steele leads the long-running indie rock outfit Sleepy Jackson while Littlemore is a member of successful dance act Pnau--eschews the mundane and prefers the grand gesture. Taking their name from J.G. Ballard’s novel, later filmed by Steven Spielberg, they emerged last year with a striking Shanghai-shot video for the title track, a piece of measured electronic pop to match Daft Punk at their best. It isn’t the only obvious hit here, The lush "We Are The People" drags on just long enough to fix its wispy chorus in the listeners’ head while "Standing on the Shore" is stately eighties new wave, forever plodding into the distance. But Empire of the Sun are just as often plain odd. The sparse, clever instrumental "Country" is straightforwardly cinematic, a twanging guitar evoking the Twin Peaks theme. The loping "Swordfish Hotkiss Night" welds seamy R’n’B to more formal electronica. But "Delta Bay" is closer to Steele’s work as The Sleepy Jackson, off-kilter romanticism packed with vocal tics and unsure whether to seduce or unsettle. Even the sleepy, sweeping closer "Without You" is peculiar, Steele’s slurred tones making for a parody of a conventional ballad. Intriguing throughout, Walking On A Dream is one of the year’s least expected treats.

'Walking On A Dream' is the debut album from Australian duoEmpire Of The Sun. Comprising The Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele and PNAU's Nick Littlemore, the duo have taken their inspiration from the early eighties new romantic and synth-pop scenes, creating an album of retro-electronic pop moments that have already earned them huge praise in their native Australia. The singles 'We Are The People' and 'Walking On A Dream' are included.